A Rose That Blooms Must Eventually Wilt
by StrawberryInDespairXD
Summary: A story about how the worst pain is caused by someone's death, and that the pain is even worse when it's the death of someone you loved a lot.
1. A Sad Story

**A Sad Story**

**OK! This is my first time writing a sad story and adding an OC (though she doesn't appear much)! Anyways, please enjoy this story!**

**WARNING: IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU MUST'VE READ THE TITLE! IF YOU DIDN'T, I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU DO.**

**Also, for those of you who don't like NaLu, don't read. **

**DISCLAIMER! I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL!**

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><p><span>Julie's POV!<span>

"Aunt Lucy!" I yelled as I ran towards the house. It wasn't a particularly big house, but it was more than enough for its one lonely inhabitant. Aunt Lucy only had her friends and their families now. She never married and her last remaining relative, her father, died in an accident many years ago. Actually, she wasn't even my aunt. I just call her that because mom is a close friend of hers. We would visit her often, but no matter how many times we did, she never lost that sad look in her eyes.

I smiled as the blond celestial mage opened the door. I had to smile. Aunt Lucy is usually so depressed. "Good evening Aunt Lucy!" I said happily.

"Good evening Julie," replied Aunt Lucy. She sounded so tired. "Come on in."

I walked inside. I've always loved her house. It always smelled like flowers. Roses to be exact.

"Julie," began Aunt Lucy, "would you like to hear a story?"

"Of course!" I loved her stories. They were always so interesting. I remember her telling me a story about how she met my parents. I still don't believe she met my mother when she crawled out of a monster's mouth...

"For this story, I'm going to use the names of the Fairy Tail guild members."

Aunt Lucy sat down on the chair beside the window. She gazed outside and stared at the setting sun with a distant look in her eyes.

And I knew this story was going to be very, very sad.

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><p><strong>If you're not interested then you can stop reading. I won't get angry if you write a terrible review. <strong>

**As for Julie, she is the child of Erza and Jellal. Just in case you were wondering.**


	2. Favour

**Favour**

**OK, first of all, I apologize for updating so late! I had a severe case of WB (seriously, my best idea was Natsu eating cheese!). T_T**

**Anyways, I need to thank some people first.**

**Fairies-Sharingans-Hana-Akumas: for encouraging and helping me! **

**Everyone who read/reviewed/favourited this story! **

**And last but not least... **

**HIRO MASHIMA! For creating Fairy Tail! XD **

**Now I can start writing the actual story! Hmmmm...**

**DISCLAIMER! I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL!**

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><p>"Hey Natsu..." said Lucy one cloudy day. The guild was bright and cheerful as always, but the sky outside looked gloomy, like it was about to rain.<p>

"Yeah?"

"Doesn't it feel like nothing interesting ever happens these days?"

"...yeah..."

It was true. Natsu and Lucy haven't done one interesting job for 3 weeks already. They were already bored to death and spend most of their time in the guild waiting for interesting jobs to be posted on the request board. However, since Lucy still has to pay her rent and both of them need the basic necessities, they end up going on a lot of boring jobs anyways.

The rain fell 5 minutes later. It looked as if Juvia had become the rain woman of Phantom Lord's Element Four again.

"Natsu! Lucy!" yelled Happy as he flew towards them. "There's a girl outside!"

"WHAT? But it's raining so hard!" exclaimed Lucy. She ran outside the guild and found herself staring down at a little girl who couldn't be more than 10 years old. She had long black hair that reached the ground and wore a frilly black-and-red dress. Her skin was so pale you would've thought she was dead. Her eyes were bright red, the same colour as blood.

"Good evening Miss. Lucy Heartfillia," said the little girl. She smiled, revealing two fangs like a vampire's.

"How do you know my name?" asked Lucy in astonishment. She has never seen this girl in her entire life before but knew that she could be dangerous. "Did my father send you?" Lucy asked suspiciously.

The little girl laughed. "No! Did you forget? Your father is dead." She smiled again, without showing her teeth. "I am here because I want to be."

Lucy felt a stab in her heart when this girl reminded her of her father's death, but the girl's reminder just made her seem more suspicious. "Then who or what are you? And how do you know my father's dead?"

"You don't need to know," replied the girl calmly. "I have a favour to ask of you, Miss. Lucy Heartfillia. Would you like to hear it?"

"Lucy, we shouldn't trust this girl," said Erza, who had heard Happy yelling and came to see what this was all about.

"I agree," said Gray, who had come with Erza.

"If Gray and Erza say that, it's probably best to listen to them," said Natsu, who had a strange feeling that something bad was going to happen if they agree to help this stranger.

Lucy turned to face her friends and said, "It's just a favour! It can't be something like tracking down a trained assassin right?"

"OK..." was the reply.

"We'll listen," said Lucy as she turned back to face the girl. The little girl smiled and walked around the slowly growing group of guild members crowding the doorway into Fairy Tail. She didn't mind that some mages were staring at her weirdly, or that the guild was suddenly very quiet. She simply walked towards a table and sat down on one of the chairs. She turned back and smiled at Lucy.

"Aren't you going to sit here with me?" she asked. Lucy walked cautiously towards her and sat down in one of the other chairs. The little girl looked at her seriously and said, "Do you agree to help me?"

"You haven't told me anything yet!"

"First, I want to know whether or not you are willing to help."

"And if I'm not?"

"Do you really want to know?"

The little girl looked around. The other guild members were crowded around their table, listening intently. She shrugged and sighed. "Why don't we talk about the details on the train, Miss. Lucy Heartfillia? This place has too many people and I want to keep this request as secret as possible."

"Wait a second!" Lucy shouted. "I didn't decide whether or not to help you yet!"

"Too bad for you then," replied the little girl. "This wasn't your decision to make in the first place. Asking was simply a courtesy. If you don't show up at the train station for the 5 A.M train tomorrow, I'll take that as a refusal to cooperate and use force to make you come. I'll give you the rest of the night to pack. Just don't pack any more than necessary. I'll also permit you to bring one other person of your choice. Any questions?"

"Yeah! I have a lot to ask you!" said Lucy angrily. She couldn't believe that she was being forced to do something for a complete stranger against her will!

"If you want the answers to those questions, you'd better come tomorrow then," said the girl as she got up to leave. "See you tomorrow, Miss. Lucy Heartfillia." She turned back to smile one last time before walking out the guild. Soon after she was out of sight, the rain stopped.

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><p>*Next day, 4:50 A.M, train station*<p>

"Geez, it's so early but this place is so _crowded_!" complained Lucy as she walked around the train station. "It's 10 minutes until 5 but shouldn't she already be here, Natsu?"

Natsu had been chosen to accompany Lucy in case the little girl tried to harm her. However, the guild members forgot that he was bad with transportation and would not be much help if they were on a moving vehicle. He was quite surprised when he was chosen, but because Lucy was his partner (other than Happy), he agreed. Now he's starting to regret that decision...

"Can't I just run instead of riding the train?"

"You don't even know where we're going!"

Lucy sighed. She wasn't even surprised that Natsu suggested such a stupid idea. _Maybe I'm just used to it_, she thought.

"There she is!" exclaimed Natsu has he pointed towards a little girl sitting on a bench several metres away. The little girl turned and her eyes almost seemed to glow as she waved at them.

"Come on! Let's go!" yelled Lucy as she ran towards her.

"Good morning Miss. Lucy Heartfillia and her friend," said the little girl when they reached her. "We should board the train now. It's going to leave soon."

The trio (Happy was left behind with Wendy and Charle) got on a bright red train and found a cozy little compartment near the back. It was really plain and no paint had been used. They all sat down, Natsu and Lucy on one side, the little girl on the other.

"Attention all passengers! The train will be leaving now!"

Natsu groaned. He knew he was going to get motion sickness as soon as the train started moving. Luckily, Lucy had taken some punching lessons from Erza and Natsu was soon lying unconscious next to her.

"What's wrong with him?" asked the girl, who had been watching this strange series of events unfold. "Motion sickness?"

"Yeah..."

"I see..."

"So," began Lucy, "can you answer my questions now?"

"Of course," replied the girl with a smile. "This room is soundproofed. Nothing we say will be heard by anyone outside."

"OK then, here's my first question. Who are you?"

"I am what you see."

"That's not an answer!" protested Lucy.

"It answers your question. That makes it an answer," replied the little girl calmly.

"Then here's my next question. What's your name?"

"My name is whatever you want it to be."

"ARGH!" Lucy was frustrated. It seemed like she was never going to get a good answer out of this girl. Asking the questions was clearly pointless because this girl was so secretive. But she still needed to know what this girl wanted her to do for her.

"Then at least tell me what you want me to do!"

"I want you to help me find someone."

"Who?"

"My dead brother."

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><p><strong>OK...somehow the story turned out like this. I will try really hard to make the next chapter more interesting. So here are some things you could be expecting next chapter: the little girl's name, why she wants to find a dead person (?), and the villain makes hisher entrance! **

**Please do not lose interest...**

**Also, please review! I still really don't care if you think this story is terrible. Just tell me and I'll try to make it better! **

**Thank you very much for reading and look forwards to the next chapter! XD **


	3. Those Who Are Gone

**Those Who Are Gone**

**Hey everyone! Sorry this is so late! I just never had the motivation to continue! Thank you to Fairies-Sharingans-Hanas-Akumas for actually getting me to work again. And thanks to all the readers and reviewers as well! XD If you don't like my story though, all you have to do is say so. And as promised, the girl's name, her reason for her favour, and the villain will all be introduced in this chapter! Let's get on with the story, shall we? **

**DISCLAIMER! I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL!**

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><p>"Your <em>dead<em> brother?" asked Lucy incredulously. She's known people who walked into guilds to get help to find missing relatives, close friends, or lovers, but this was something unheard of! "If he's dead, why do you need to find him? Do you mean you want to find his body? Or his ghost?" She shuddered at the thought of having to track down a ghost. This job was already creepy enough.

The little girl laughed. "Depends on what we find first! I want to know how he died." She said this with a sad look in her eyes. "And whether or not he was murdered. If he was indeed murdered, I want to find his murderer and capture him or her."

Lucy nodded. "So you want my help finding either his body or his spirit first, and then maybe a murderer?"

"Exactly."

"Then if you want my help, you'll have to tell me your name first!"

The little girl paused for a moment before saying, "Luna. My name is Luna. Or at least, that's what my brother called me."

"Luna," repeated Lucy. It was a nice name. "Where are we going? Now that I know what we have to do, you can tell me our destination right?" She smiled. Despite all that has happened, she realized that Luna may be just a little girl after all. And she clearly cared a lot about his brother she mentioned.

Luna didn't reply. She just gazed out the window with a faraway look in her eyes. Lucy decided not to bother her as she was thinking. She decided to do the same and admire the scenery. Multi-coloured flowers and tall, green trees covered the green plains of grass. The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky, smiling on the plants below. Lucy sighed. It all looked so peaceful. She turned back to look at Luna.

But Luna had already fallen asleep.

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><p>They finally got off at a station near a small town. Natsu had woken up as well, and was feeling better than usual. <em>He's just happy because we're no longer on the train<em>, thought Lucy as she smiled. Luna had woken up as well, and was once again the serious little girl Lucy had met that rainy day.

"Miss. Lucy Heartfillia and her friend, we will be staying at a small inn in this town as we get our supplies ready for the long trip ahead of us. I suggest you get a lot of rest," said Luna as she walked towards the road leading into the town.

Lucy groaned. "Please stop calling me 'Miss. Lucy Heartfillia,' Luna! Just Lucy is alright! And my friend is Natsu." She was tired of Luna addressing her like she was still the rich daughter of Jude Heartfillia, her father. She was Lucy Heartfillia of Fairy Tail! And calling Natsu "her friend" bothered her a bit for reasons unknown. _Maybe it's because Luna is the first person do so_, thought Lucy as she followed Luna towards the town, with Natsu walking beside her.

"Alright then, Lucy and Natsu," said Luna. She said their names carefully, as if she hasn't addressed anyone in such a friendly manner before. Nevertheless, she continued to call them by their first names for the rest of the short walk towards the town.

When they entered through the giant metal gate, Luna immediately quickened her pace, and even Natsu had a hard time keeping up with her after that. _What's the rush?_ Lucy thought as she ran after the little girl.

"Slow down!" cried Lucy as Luna disappeared into the crowds of people. She looked around. Natsu was gone as well. _Just great, _thought Lucy as she continued her search for her two companions. _Just my luck to get lost in a strange place. _

"LUCY! WHERE ARE YOU?" Lucy heard her name being yelled. _Natsu? _She pushed through the crowd and headed towards the direction where she thought she heard his voice.

"There you are!" laughed Natsu as he saw her running towards him. He and Luna were waved. Lucy waved back, relieved. _It's a good thing Natsu's loud, _she thought as she finally reached them, panting.

"Shall we go?" asked Luna. Lucy groaned. More pushing through crowds. Luna sighed, a bit overdramatically. "Fine. Let's take the easy route."

Turned out the "easy route" was going around the back of several houses, with quite a few residents poking their heads out the windows and throwing objects at them, thinking they were thieves.

"There. Happy now?" grumbled Luna as they finally reached their destination, a small inn on the other side of the town. She had been hit with a book (a thick hardcover one) and wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. Lucy hadn't been hit with anything hard (just a few pillows), but had a bucket of water dumped on her and she was now soaking wet and irritated. Natsu was by far the most unfortunate. Luna and Lucy had used him as a human shield plenty of times, but that idea turned on them after he was hit on the head with a brick and fainted. They had to drag him afterwards, which slowed them down considerably, and gave people more time to throw stuff at them. Luckily, most of the residents had terrible aim...

Lucy didn't reply, but walked straight through the double doors of the inn.

Luna decided to take care of all the "official business" (as she put it). That meant Lucy and Natsu got to wander around town until sunset, when they returned to the inn to eat, shower, and then sleep. Lucy wasn't particularly excited. She didn't see anything worth taking a second look at. Then again, she had been running through a crowd. She didn't have much time to look at _anything_.

Well, Luna forgot about the crowd though, so Lucy and Natsu actually spent the rest of their day _trying _to look at the items on sale. When the crowd finally dispersed soon after the sun set, Lucy and Natsu took their time walking back to the inn. As expected, Luna was somewhat angry, but she calmed down as she explained how they were going to sleep. "The girls get the bed and Natsu gets the small couch. It won't be that comfortable for you Natsu, but it's better than the bathtub. AND DON'T EVEN _THINK _ABOUT DOING ANYTHING PERVERTED!"

So in a tiny room shared by three people, they slept.

Or at least Luna and Natsu did. Lucy couldn't sleep. She didn't know why, but something about the room just bothered her. She decided to explore the inn a bit more. There wasn't a rule against walking around the inn at night here.

The hallways lights were on outside their room, so at least a candle or something like that wasn't necessary. As Lucy walked by other rooms, she heard the sounds of snoring, or a baby crying, or someone falling off their bed. It was normal...right?

"_Come..."_

Lucy froze. She looked around, but she couldn't find the source of that voice. It sounded like a child, probably a boy. And it sounded close.

"_Why can't anyone ever find me? I'm right here..."_

Lucy was scared. The voice...why couldn't she find the owner of it?

"_Can anyone hear me? Please find me..."_

"I can hear you!" Lucy whispered softly, hoping whoever it was can hear her and she wouldn't have to raise her voice and wake up the other guests. "Where are you?"

"_...I don't know. It's dark in here! I don't want to be here! I want to go home!" _

The child seems to be weeping by now. Lucy couldn't help but feel bad for him. But where was he? Somewhere dark? There were a lot of dark places.

"_I can hear you...you're close. Just a bit more I think..."_

Lucy continued walking down the hallway, now thoroughly terrified. Something about the voice was...unnatural.

That was when she saw it. A wooden door at the end of the hallway. Lucy didn't know why, but she suddenly knew that this is what she was looking for. A dark place.

She opened the door, slowly, hoping that there wouldn't be a corpse behind it or something. But it was empty. A small dark room with walls made of stone. It was cold, but there wasn't anything unusual.

"_Thank you for finding me..."_

Lucy looked around. The voice was coming from this room...but where? She walked in, and immediately the door closed behind her. _This is just like a horror movie_, thought Lucy.

When she looked behind her, she saw it. A drawing stuck to the back of the door. It was a drawing of a little boy, but it was uncoloured.

To Lucy's horror, the boy _moved. _At first it was just a finger, then an arm, and pretty soon his whole body. He smiled. _"You found me...what can I give you as payment? Information? I know a lot..."_

Lucy was still in state of shock, but the boy just smiled and said, _"I know what you want to know...I will tell you. Celestial Mage Lucy Heartfillia, daughter of the deceased couple Jude and Layla Heartfillia, you want to know why your strange travelling companion Luna wants to find a dead person. To every question there is an answer. This is the answer you are looking for: Luna wants to find her 'brother' to apologize to him. For what she had done 4 years ago. That is your answer."_

"Wait!" cried Lucy as she shook off her initial shock. "What did Luna do?"

The boy shook his head sadly. _"I can't tell you that. That's something Luna will have to tell you herself. However, I will tell you something else as a warning. Beware Luna's 'sister'. She is dangerous. She will not attack Luna for revenge, but simply because Luna exists and possesses knowledge that should be erased from this world...no, ALL the worlds. Now as payment for that piece of information, I need to you do something for me."_

"What?" asked Lucy. She didn't want to say no after such a valuable warning.

The colourless boy smiled as he began to disappear. _"Please tell Luna that she is forgiven and that she doesn't need to worry so much about those who are gone."_ As he continued to disappear with a smile on his face, Lucy thought she saw colour return to him. Black hair, pale skin, but the most shocking thing was...

"He has red eyes, the same blood-red as me..." said Luna, standing in the doorway, smiling sadly.

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><p><strong>If anyone is confused up to this point, feel free to send me a message. I will not spoil anything though. Thank you for waiting so patiently! XD I'm sorry the NaLu "moments" have't started yet...maybe next chapter or the chapter after that. I'm terrible at writing love stories though...<strong>

**If there is any way I can improve the story, feel free to put it in a review or send me a message. I say that a lot, but I don't want the readers to be depressed because it's not good enough or if a certain part could be improved or something. **


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